With the victory for (and the defeat of Flamengo to Santos), Cruzeiro took the tip of the series A. and the best of all: playing a good football. But what resources do coach Leonardo Jardim use to take his team to the top? The Brasileirão has a new leader and here to stay.
First it is important to remember that here in this column, it already indicated that Cruzeiro was among the 4 title candidates (based on the so -called “Guardiola paradigm”). Therefore, it is no surprise that six rounds later, the fox is surfing in the lead. It was warned!
Competing from an equal to equal
Shortly after the Club World Cup, Cruzeiro’s first game was a sound defeat against Grêmio, where the team showed a lot of dominance over the spaces and control of the ball. It could have been a more elastic score for the miners, but it was enough to consolidate the team in second place in the table in that round.
Even if Palmeiras, Flamengo and Botafogo, Cruzeiro is competing as equals in favoritism to the title. Thanks to the excellence of the work of Leonardo Jardim, who established a culture of “football not just playing with the ball”, making the defensive intensity a weapon of cruzeirense domination over opponents.
A very objective team
Leonardo Jardim’s game model is vertical and intense. This is not a team that “wraps” with the ball in the foot: Cruzeiro has an average of 46% possession of the ball per game, being 16th place in the championship in the average inauguration. But it is the third in total amount of assists for finishing (143), behind only Rooster (145) and Botafogo (153). That is, with little possession, it is a team that is very associated and generates its submissions from the collective construction. It is an objective team.
Understanding 14 games, the team has a reliable cast, especially in the offensive sector. Players like Kaio Jorge, Wanderson, the quality steering wheels in the pass like Lucas Silva and Romero, and the team’s star Matheus Pereira execute the garden ideas in harmony, showing that the fit came and that bank solutions enter without harming the collective quality.
Missing a lot for the end of the championship, many things can happen and the Brazilian Championship has always been characterized by being very difficult and disputed. Especially with the amount of matches that teams need to make, generating injuries and suspensions that affect game models. But the fact is that Brasileirão has a new leader, and he is blue and cabulious.
